Fighting out of the red corner in white trunks with blue and red trim, Golovkin did to his opponent what he did to the last 20 men he fought, even though Lemieux was the most accomplished fighter he has faced. He ate a few punches in the process, whereas Lemieux was force-fed a bloody smorgasbord.

Lemieux, fighting out of the blue corner in purple trunks, had neither a game plan nor the skills to compete with the juggernaut Triple G. The Canadian had his moments, particularly in the sixth and seventh rounds, but it was an uphill battle that Lemieux was destined to lose and lose big.

The 20,548 who crammed into the Garden got what they paid for. They wanted to see one man dismantle another and Golovkin was more than happy to oblige. He stalked and stunned Lemieux on numerous occasions, using the jab, hook, straight right and uppercut in his well stocked arsenal.

Lemieux has plenty of grit. He was unhappy with the stoppage. He wanted to go out on his shield. But the result was, for all intents and purposes, a foregone conclusion, due less, however, to Lemieux’s deficiencies than to Golovkin’s proficiencies.

“I told you this was a very important fight,” said Golovkin after the bout. “Dave is a very good fighter. A strong fighter. I can box him, too. I’m a boxer, too. My goal is all the belts in the middleweight division.”

As boxing proceeds to fill the void Floyd’s retirement has created, we’re going to see several fighters in the upcoming months anointed as the next big thing. There’s a ton of talent out there, master boxers as well as master sluggers, all of whom appear to have been born for the express purpose of filling big shoes.

If Golovkin keeps winning, and there’s no reason to think otherwise, the Kazakh Kid may become the new face of boxing, and it’s a face that neither sneers nor registers scorn.

Related Articles

Comments

This is a place to express and/or debate your boxing views. It is not a place to offend anyone. If we feel comments are offensive, the post will be deleted and continuing offenders will be blocked from the site. Please keep it clean and civil! We want to have fun. We want some salty language and good-natured exchanges. But let's keep our punches above the belt...

KB
I don’t think Canelo is going to fight GGG for another couple of years.
I just can’t see it happening next year. He Canelo would have to move to 160 and fight Golovkin on huge PPV event.
Cotto might surprise Canelo when they fight.
Funny Mention Pirog that was to be GGG’s first US Pro fight. Pirog became an actor.
Quillin I want to see against Lemieux. Maybe have Lara Move up to 160 and fight Quillin too.

All the Middle Weights active right now and the ones you say are the top Middle Weights I would like to see fight Lemieux. There chance’s against GGG are Moot.
They have none.
Cotto and Canelo against Golovkin? has to happen but they have no chance.
I see Lemieux fighting these guys and creating some upsets. I see Golovkin fighting these guys and creating KO’s.
Will be pretty exciting in the Middle Weight Division come 2016.

raxman makes good points. I never bought into the Lemieux hype. GGG has to step it up and fight guys like Lee, Saunders, Quillin, Jacobs—assuming they want the big payday that comes with such a fight. Clean out the division and move up in weight. So far the opposition has not been eyebrow raising.

Beaujack, Marcel Cerdan, Jake LaMotta, Tony Zale, Georgie Abrams, Ray Robinson, Randy Turpin, Joey Giardello, Emile Griffith, Joey Giambra, Eduardo Lausse, Marvin Hagler, are not, in my view, old timers that required video footage to watch, especially Hagler. I also saw these men fight and I believe Monzon, McCollum, Trinidad, Hearns, Benn, Eubank,Toney, Jones, De La Hoya, Tiger, Duran, Michael Watson, SRL, Calzaghe, Steve Collins, Barkley, GGG, Mayweather, Pirog, Pacquiao, prime Cotto, prime Mosley, Winky Wright, prime Martinez, Hopkins, and others rate as high or in some cases even higher. And of course, if you included super middleweights, the modern day fighters shine like polished gold recognizing that that division was not around back in the day. But that’s where the Eastern Euro come into play.

As for boxers fighting 100 times or more, that’s how they earned money. That model no longer fits. It was an economic thing more than a “keep in shape” thing even though it probably added to unreported cases of pugilistica dementia. Today’s fighters enjoy advanced technology, training, supplements, nutrition, diet, etc. I’m working on that angle.
However, envision a human stump like Galento fighting a 6’9” monster like Fury and consider what might happen.

Next up for Joseph Parker….David Tua…..Parker just beat up his Granpap Kali with no less than six Pacific Ocean-Austalian-New Zealand-Whoosiewhatsis titles at stake?! Ban boxing in Australia and New Zealand!

If we’re choosing up sides, I’m on Team Beaujack (even without knowing what team colors he’s selected). Except for Golovkin, there isn’t any current middleweight who can be favorably compared to the greats (or even the goods) of yesteryear.

You think, Irish, that Williams landed a second rabbit punch? So do I, despite no one else (to my knowledge) making that observation. I also agree that Cooper did a very poor job of refereeing.

KB, in answer to your post, what do you mean with the word “oldtimers’ and scratchy films ? What era are you talking about ? When I posted that todays middleweights ASIDE from GGG are a “:sorry lot ” compared to the
fighters I saw at the 160 pound division such as Marcel Cerdan, Jake LaMotta, Tony Zale, Georgie Abrams, Ray Robinson, Randy Turpin, Joey Giardello, Emile Griffith, Joey Giambra, Eduardo Lausse, Marvin Hagler,
Gene Fullmer, Bobo Olsen, and so many excellent fighters of those days. many of them with more than 100 bouts etc. Yes I believe the middleweights today with the exception of GGG who I rate very highly with the greats of any period are “a sorry bunch” compared to the
“oldtimers” I saw ringside…What say you ?

Raxman, You cannot compare Floyd Mayweather was 28 years old when he went up to welterweight, one of boxing’s glamour and highest paid divisions, and seeking bigger paydays and a 33 year old Golovkin who is now making millions at middleweight, a division which still harbors names like Lee, Quillin and Jacobs (the latter two holding paper titles but assuredly not wanting anything to do with him). Golovkin is holding court. He’s a natural middleweight; no bigger no smaller. Ward on the other hand is growing, weighing in at 172 in catchweight fight of his own design. By his own admission, he thinks he could end his career at heavyweight. He’s an incredibly accomplished man and fighter with more in store but it’s him, not GGG who will have to seek opponents outside his own division; wa virtual wasteland at the moment. Boxing is and always has been about “what have you done for me lately”...with the emphasis on ‘lately’. The spotlight is on Andre but right now, the limelight is on GGG. It’s on Andre to make the next move

here’s the bottom line fellas, and for mine it ends this argument completely.
as the saying goes - to be the man you have to beat the man
and GGG aint beat no man. and I just can’t rate him as highly as all that until he beats quality opposition. its just wrong that some of you who sing his praises are the same ones who called Mayweather cherry picker. Floyd was a small welterweight but when the moment came he fought way out of his weight range at jnr middle.
its time GGG moved north to 168 where there is a much greater talent depth. I expect Golovkin will beat anyone short of Ward. I do. and I want to believe he’s special, I really do, coz I want to live in an era with an ATG but I will not fall in line with the adulation just because of the way he beats guys he was never going to lose to.
canelo is a great fighter but he will definitely want to acclimatise to 160 before fighting GGG, that could mean another 2 years of Golovkin fighting guys like Lemiuex or worse like Stevens or Monroe
the real problem was they let GGG pad his record instead of letting him fight top tier opponents after a handful of pro fights. the guys had over 30 fights and he’s hardly fought a title holder - present or former

KB, Few are as qualified to speak to and write about the virtues and advantages of modern training techniques and their impact on performance and ability in contemporary boxing relative to those of the past. You should consider a more in depth stab at it.

The most dangerous punch in boxing is a punch to the back of the head. Prichard Colon in a coma….after receiving… not just a rabbit punch….but a power punch directly to the back of his skull during that fight. Another shitty job of refereeing…instead of properly breaking the clinches Joe Cooper allowed a frenzied Williams time to free up his arm to crack Colon in the back of the head….for Christ’s sake…the last punch thrown in the fight was another shot to the back of Prichard’s head.

True words Irish , made me laugh when Lemieux said post fight “I’d like to fight him again to settle things” you got settled dave ,please man just admit it you are not on his level just humble up geez and give thanks and praise it got stopped when it did , I would of preferred to see golovkins “FINISH HIM ” mortal combat moment tho,.anyway can’t remember the last tine I stayed up for a fight and actually enjoyed all of it

Beaujack, I’ve been watching just about as long as you have and with all humble and due respect, I must disagree with you about today’s mid-weight fighters being a “sorry lot.” Many of the guys are trained by techniques that were not known back in the day—including the famed Russian/Cuban bounding exercises fir strength and agility. They also use technology that was not available in the old days. Fact is, they are stronger. That’s why you see so many one-punch KOs.. They also use legal supplements that the old-timers were clueless about. I get Old School vs Modern, but from this point forward, I am going to defend modern a tad more aggressively (but respectively).,A guy like Kovalev would slaughter many of the old timers like a Kosher Butcher slaughters a chicken.

I know what I see and it’s not some scratchy old video footage. It’s the real McCoy.

Lots of talk in this sport about heart…..a word you hardly ever hear is brute or brutish although you hear brutal often is in brutal beating. I say David was sky high for this one and a full on 180 lb brute at fight time. He had the physical capacity to tolerate a good beating and guess what… so did Murray, Monroe, and Curtis and in the end it was just a matter of how much of a beating they could take. David smirked and sneered in the lead up to this one and was still doing it during the intros last night and after sustaining a frightful ass whipping and having been saved from real damage by the referee he was talking shit afterward about a premature stoppage which is not the sign of a competitor or someone with heart but is in reality an insult for someone who fairly and squarely has just whipped your ass to a frazzle.

Like CG, I didn’t pay for the fight, but “watched” via online updates and comments. I do feel that if given the opportunity, GGG would prove the naysayers wrong. It remains to be seen if he will get that chance. GGG seems like a genuinely decent human being who truly loves what he does. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: He’s the best PR person this sport has right now. I say put him in front of every kid who wants to box. And it doesn’t pain me that more people asked me about Chocolatito than GGG pre-fight night. He’s pretty darn spectacular.

When the fight was stopped it looked premature. But after the fight they replayed the last couple punches. Lemieux took a massive hook to the body and was visibly hurt…he was grimacing in pain and doubled over, unable to defend himself. What better time to stop what was becoming a horrific beatdown? The ref (Chris Tucker is moonlighting as a ref?) did the right thing.

I have been watching boxing lo these many decades and after seeing GGG for the first time on tv, felt that he will become an alltime great middleweight in spite of the fact that today’s 160 pounders are a weak lot.
But throw back Golovkin to any era of the past and he would be a great threat to any MW of the modern era. Kudos to GGG.

KB I am not sure what more they could have done with Lemieux. He can’t change his fighting style just from one camp between fights. He has always been an inside fighter with hooks. He never really was able to get into a rhythm/groove.
Even if GGG was deducted a point for hitting him when he took knee he still won every round and got the TKO. I think the TKO was right he was getting the Murray treatment and those kind of shots could have lasting damage that no one wants anyone to have.
Lemeiux is still a very real threat to everyone in the middleweight division.

Time for some secrets….
Golovkin might not have noticed it but with in his focus he maybe have been using CHI.
When the mind is so focused on a thought or action time does not exist and the body and mind are one. A lot of people will say oh this is an adrenaline rush or “Runners High”
They are correct that it is a chemical that the brain creates but there is much much more happening here. You have an energy field around your body at all times.
If you wish to reach the next level you cannot rely on the body alone, the body is just a vessel.
If you want to be a Genius you cannot “try.” Some say this is getting into the groove or the moment, “The Muse”
Golovkin getting into the moment? So focused so unwavered that his body and mind are one on one task, that creates an inner energy that can make you do super human things(beyond science)
In the old days it was called many things in many cultures. The most familiar is CHI.
To reach this energy one learns the proper, the real meditation and follows the Chakra Levels to the Higher Consciousness. (Third EYE)
In action it can happen from complete and total focus where time does not exist and only the task at hand is all that that mind is focusing on.
I wonder how many boxers slip in and out of this, honestly not many because you can see it in there face. Golovkin’s so called assassin demoure is from this focus. He probably does not even realize it as he is Focused after all^_-

A brief observation, if I may, on yesterday afternoon’s PBC. I had Diaz beating Peterson (by 117-114, if I remember right), while Williams-Colon was just plain weird, more a Martin and Lewis routine than anything else.

I didn’t see the fight, refusing to do PPV, but from what I read here, it went as I predicted—Golovkin by eighth-round TKO.

As always on this topic, I disagree (however amicably) with Raxman. I’ve seen Triple G fight several times and think it likely that he’ll ultimately be ranked among the best middleweights ever. I had the pleasure of meeting him once, and he’s a genuinely nice guy…outside the ring.

Fe’Roz is of course right in pointing out that the heavyweight division is the weakest, and by a country mile. That said, there’s no one at middleweight who has the slightest chance against the Kazakh, including Cotto (who’s not even a middleweight), Quillin, and Saunders. Golovkin-Alvarez could prove exciting (and I do indeed expect Canelo to beat Cotto), but I see that as another win for GGG.

The bottom line is that Golovkin is happy to take on everyone (the feeling isn’t mutual) and beat them. It’s not his fault that he’s fighting at a time when his competition is made up by guys like Quillin and not, say, Tony Zale. Hey, whaddya gonna do? You dance with the girls who are there.

Raxman, The weakest division in boxing is and has been the heavyweight division. At middleweight, there is always hope that someone moves up or down soon. At heavy, there is only a slim hope someone gets better and can even compete. Gennady is fighting whover walks through this weight range. Sooner or later, with the kind of genuine following he’s attracting, a Canelo or someone else will rise and/or fall into his class. Right now, he’s just doing his job, settiing them up and knocking them out

ho hum, another inferior opponent dispatches as expected. until Canelo retires cotto and moves up to 160 their isn’t a single opponent at 160 worthy of GGG. Unlike the rest of you I just don’t care how many B graders Golovkin beats, I’m no more impressed then I was with Bute fighting nobodies at 168.
Golovkin was a super star amateur and its taken him 33 fights to face his first sitting titlist. in total the guy has fought only 3 current, former or future titlists. its outrageous that he has the rep he’s got beating the guys he has.
It’s sad coz his skills mean he is so much better than this, but the risk vs reward template that boxing runs on these days makes this the best we can hope for - a great fighter demolishing his opponents in the weakest division in pro boxing.

All credit to Gennady and his corner for what I think was a surprising strategy but executed to perfection. With GGG using his jab to deter Lemieux from attempting whatever it was he and his corner thought he was capable of doing, Gennady made the Canadian look like somewhere between and amateur and a sparring partner, and a not so good one at that. Two completely different classes of boxers; one the far more diverse and accomplished than expected, the other so much. Most including Lemieux anticipated a brawl. What we/he got was a lesson.

Amazing display of Skill!! Defense, Offense(That JAB!!) Foot work.
GGG Was quite a amazing!
Was a great Card!
Lemuiex was better then I thought he would be, tougher, he gave it his all and for that he deserves a lot of credit!
Golovkin probably has the best jab of anyone in boxing really if you blinked you would miss it! And GGG’s Jab wouldn’t miss!

Not sure if ive ever seen so many jabs split the guard with quick precision as i saw tonight. Hence the broken nose and mushed center face. Possibly the first time i. Quite awhile i felt so bad for a fighter. Lemieux was trying so hard, and just couldnt match up. First time ive ever seen him driven backwards at will.
Alot will say that GGG wanted to suddenly become just a straight boxer in this one, but i believe that only happened because he wasnt forced to go any further than that. Why abandon something that is working over and over again? If he would have been pushed to, he had an arsenal waiting to unleash in variety. It was just like sanchez said in the corner…. Keep him focused and alert on your jabs/straights, until you want to land the one we are looking for. He only had to land about 3 non-jabs. One of those had lemieux take a knee. Another drove him into the corner. The thrird had him look towards the ref in disbelief. He was hurt and confusd.
The entire fight it looked as if lemieux was trying to reach out for a steak that dangled about a foot in front of him, and just couldnt reach it.
GGG was a beast in full control this evening. Give david some praise for not dropping. Cuz from the very first punch he took, he instantly stayed dazed and disoriented. Looks like he will be placed back into dogfights on his level, and will be fun to watch.
As for Golovkin, he just grabbed the stars, and added another level to his already extremely feared body of work. Literally.